Detachable fastener



Feb. 24, 1959 E. 5. LA RUE ET AL DETACHABLE FASTENER Filed Aug. 27, 1954INVENTOR. [Iii/V04 5, 1.420:

IITOP/Vi) Un d sw sfllem O DETACHABLE FASTENER Eleanor S. La Rue andFrederick Gene La Rue, San

Francisco, Calif.; said Frederick Gene La Rue assignor to said EleanorS. La Rue Application August 27, 1954, Serial No. 452,492 2 Claims. (Cl.24-103) The invention relates to the form and construction of detachablefastener elements and particularly to those embodying a pin arranged forpassing through and attaching togetherone or more layers of fabric orthe like,-orfor n detachablysecuring to the fabric a button or similarrt -4 m An object of the present invention isto providc a detachablefastener of the character described which is adaptable to a wide numberand types of application and maybe made from various materials to affordboth ornamentation and function and in various sizes to work withdifferent types and thicknesses of material gto be secured. For example,the fastener may be applied to garments and the like in a manner similarto the common straight or safety pin, may be used for applying buttonsto garments, and may be adapted for a wide variety of other functionsand applications such as clasps, buckles or .the like,whereverdetachable fastener sections may be employed. Another object ofthe present invention is to provide a fastener of the character abovewhichmay be quickly and easily applied to and removed from a garmentwithout injury to the cloth of the garment, thereby facilitating andencouraging the frequent interchange of buttons and other ornaments, as,for example, on womens dresses, .coats and suits so as to obtain desiredornamental effects. A further object of the present invention is toprovide a fastener of the character described which will be compact inform and will provide an improved support for and presentation of abutton or the like. Still another object of the invention is to providea detachable fastener of the character described which may beeconomically manufactured in mass production and will be designed toprovide a long and useful life.

Yet a further object ofthe present invention is to provide a detachablefastener of the characier described which may be adapted for u's e in acoveredbutton construction wherein the several parts, including a:button form, maybe quickly and easily assembled with adesired fabriccovering for the buttonand applied to a garment. a

1 The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, someof which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescriptions of. the preferred form of the invention which isillustratedin the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. ;Itis to be understood, howeventhat variations in the showing made by thesaid drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims. Referring to 'said drawing; v aFigure 1 is a perspective viewof the detachable fastener constructed inaccordance with the present invention,

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of thefastener and is taken substantially on the plane of line 2-2 ofFigurel'.l .1 .1 Figure 3 rasrq s: es i rel risw19f. e fa T 2,874,433 PatentedFeb. 24, 1959 fastener sectionwith the other fastener part shown inincluding a pair of spaced resilient wire legs 13 and 14,

and the section 12 being formed with bores 16 and 17 opening to a side18 thereof and dimensioned to slidably receive the legs 13 and 14, andas a special feature of the fastener, bores are divergently tapered fromthe side 18 so as to resiliently deflect the legs 13 and 14 upon slidingof the lcgsinto the bores on attachment of the sections. Preferably,-thefree end portions 19 and of the legs 13 and 14 are angularly extendedfrom the legs was to place a torsional strain on the legs upon in}sertion of the ends into the divergent bores 16' and '17 and, for mostapplications at least, the end portions 19-aiid 21'should 'be bent toextend substantially perpendicular to the legs, as generally illustratedthroughout thevarious forms inthe drawings, 7 4 Y In the forms of theinvention illustrated iii Figures'l to 4 and 6 and 7 of the drawing, thesection 11 is formed of a substantially U-shaped wire providing the legs13 and 14 in substantially parallel relation and terminating at one end'in a transverse connection portion 22. In this arrangement the oppositefree ends 19 and 21- of the legs are bent to extend substantiallyperpendicular to the legs 13 and 14 and into parallel relation to eachother. Also, to facilitate the insertion of'the wire fastener sectionthrough material to be fastened, the ends 23 anci '24 of the portions 19and 21 are desirably pointed. i f The fastener section 12 may becomposed, as here shown, of a disk-like body having a substantially flatside 18 which in the operative positioning of the device,'as illustratedin Figure 3, will be positioned flatly against one side 26 of a fabriclayer 27 secured by the fastener. The side 18 of the body 12 is formedwith an opening 28 which is dimensioned to receive the free end portions19, and 21 of the fastener section 11, and the bores 16 and- 17 formedinternally in the body 12 have their ends terminated at and incommunication with the opening 28. In keeping with the perpendicularoffsetting of the wire ends 19 and 21, the bores 16 and 17 arepreferably arranged ina plane substantially perpendicular to the opening28-that is, substantially parallel to theflat side 18. To facilitatemanufacture, the section 12 may: be laminated out of two piecesBland-32. In this arrange; mentthe piece 31 may have, the opening 28 cutthrough it and the bores 16 and 17 milled in its inside face lamimatedto the piece 32. I

The opening 28 may be of generally U-shape, having A spacedsubstantially parallel sidewalls 36 and 37 adapted to receive andslidably confine therebetween the offset ends 19 and 21 of the wiresection. The forward'end of the opening 28 is preferably divided into apair of spaced slots 38 and 39 which receive the ends 23 and 24 of thewire and guide them into the bores 16 and 17. The slots may be formed bya rearwardly projecting front wall portion 41 which extends towards therear wall 42 of the opening inspaced relation to the 'op-' posite sides36 and 37, the rear wall 42 being spaced- I fromthe forward ends of theslots 33 and 39 by a distance .Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view on'anenlarged scale I permitting the-offset ends 19 and 21 to be moved intoand out of the opening perpendicularly to the side 18 withoutrestriction, as illustrated in Figure l. To-fasten the sectionstogether, the offset-ends 19 and 21 are in'- serted into the opening andagainst the bottom side 43 thereof, as illustrated in Figure 2, and thenthey sections aredisplaced relative to "each other so as to slide theends 19 and 21 into the bores 16 and 17, as illustrated in Figures 3 and4. The sections may be separated with equal facility by merelydisplacing them in an opposite bores 16 and 17.

The basic elements of the fastener, as above described, may be used in awide variety of forms for accomplishing a wide variety of purposes. Inits simplest form, the U-shaped wire section .11 and the fastener bodysection 12 combine to provide a simple form of pin similar to a safetypin. In this arrangement, the wire legs 13 and 14 may be insertedthrough one or more layers of .fabric, as illustrated in Figures 3 and4, with the connecting port'ion 22 of the section 11 disposed on oneside of the fabric and the section 12 disposed on the opposite side soas to secure the fastener in place and the one or more desirablydetachably fastened on the outside of a garment or other supportingmedia through which the metal pin may be inserted. On the otherhand, themetal pin itself may be used as a fastener for other objects. For.example, it may be used as a corsage pin for receiving one or morestems of flowers or the like through the loop provided by the U-shapedform of the section, orthe loop of the wire section may be passedthrough the loop or eyelet 44 of a conventional button 46,, asillustrated in Figure 6, to provide an excellent button and fastenercombination. In the latter case the connecting portion 22a of the wireis preferably rounded as shown in Figure 7so as to center the 'buttonthereon.

.A modified form of the fastener is illustrated in Figure.5 of thedrawing, wherein the wire legs 13a and .1411 are carried by and projectsubstantially perpendicularly from the'normally back side 47 of abodysection :48. The latter combines with the body section 12 in the,manner above described to provide solid sections 48 and 12 on theopposite sides of a supporting media 27, suchas one or more fabriclayers. In this form of the invention, either the section 48 or thesection 12 may be fashioned as a functional or ornamental button,jewelry piece or the like, with the other section functioning .toproperly support and present it at the opposite side of the garment.Also, this form of the invention makes possible the quick detachablemounting of an ornamental piece or the like to a companionsectionwhichis otherwise supported. For example, by attaching the section 12 tothe outer side ,of a garment ;or the ,like, ;a;plurality ofinterchangeable elements .in the form 1of -section 4.8 may be'detachably ,applied :to the section 12 as .desired. In such case thelegs13a and 14a ,willbe ,foreshortened so .thatthe sections 12 and 48\Wlll lbeassembled in faceto-face relation.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figure 7, thespaced wirelegs 13and 14 are extended from-the backside 49 of a button- 46, as-for.exampleinthernanner illustrated in Figure .6, and a washer likemember-51 .is mounted on the legs 13 and Hand positionedagainst thebackside 49 of the buttonto provide ameans for locking up the assembly.Forthistpurpose the member ,51 is formed with spaced openings 52 and 53and themember is desirably formed with tongues 56 and57 atthe openingspositioned to engage and grip thelegs vtosecurethe member againstmovement away ,from the [back side .of the button. This. form. of.theinvention .is particularly useful in retaining on the button 46a.clothbrother covering 58 which may be extended over the facelof the buttonand to'the back side 49 thereofforengagement thereatby the member 51..Forthis purpose the. member 51 is preferably of dish shape andismounted on thejlegs 13 and 14 with thenormally concave side of themember toward the rear side 49. of the buttonso as topresent the. rim 59of the member 51 against .the covering .58 at the backside of thebutton, and to better secure theg'covei'ing in place,,the rim 59"maybeserrate'd as illustrate'd inFigure 7.

fit

A further modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figure 8wherein there is provided in the opening 28:: a pair of notches 61 andv62 which cooperate with the resilient strain placed upon the legs 13aand 14a to provide an automatic interlocking action upon sliding of theoffset ends 19a and 21a into the divergent bores 16a and 1711. ,Aswillbe noted from Figure 8, the notches 6'1 and 62 are provided at thejoindcr of the opposite sidewalls 36a and 37a with the front wall 41a ofthe opening-that is, at the forward extremities of the spaced slots 38aand 3911. Also, as will be noted, the bores 16a and 17a are tapered fromthe inner wall 41a so that the portion of the bores at the wall 41a issomewhat wider than at the inner ends of the bores. In this manner, thepoints 23a and 24a of the wire will initially strike the adjacent insidediverging surfaces 63 and 64 and ride these surfaces as the pin ispushed to attached position, thus ,crowdingthe legs 13a and 14a againstthe sidewalls 36a and 37a. Accordingly, the legs will resiliently snapinto "the-notches '61 and 62 upon attachment of the sections so as tothereby'retain the sections against accidental separation. Preferably,the form of the notch is rounded or beveled sufficiently to permitdisplacement of the legs 13a and 14a out of the notches and onto thesmooth sidewalls 36a and 37a when sufiicient separating force ismanually applied to the sections.

"We claim:

'1. A fastener comprising, detachable sections, one of said sectionsincluding :apair of spaced resilient wire legs secured at their endsagainst rotation about their axes and'having opposite free ends offsetin a common plane, and a {second section formedwith opposed side and endwalls defining an opening dimensioned to receive said free endsandbeing'further formed with a pair of internal bores inthe plane ofsaid opening and divergently extending from said end wall at said sidewalls so as to cons'titute angular continuations of said side walls,said bores 1 being dimensioned to slidablyreceive and to rotativelydisplace said free ends upon insertion of the latter into said bores soas -to;resilient1y urge said legs against said side walls, saidsidewalls being formed with lateral notches dimensioned to receive andinterlock with said legs whereby the resilientstressing of said legs onsaid insertion will cause said legs to resiliently snap into saidnotches to'detachably hold said sections together.

'2. A fastener comprising, -a substantially U-shaped wire dfresilientmaterial having spaced legs terminating in iangularly extendedsubstantially parallel free ends, and a 'fastener"bodyformed withopposed side and end walls defining an opening dimensioned to receivesaid free-ends an'd ,beingjfurther formed with -a pair of internal boresin the plane of-said opening and divergently extendingfrom said end wallat said side walls so as to constitute angular 'continuations of saidside walls, said bores being dimensioned-to 'slidably receive and torotativelyjc'lispl'ace sai'd free ends-upon insertion of the latterintosaidboresso as to -resiliently-urge said legs against saidside'walls,said side walls being-formed with lateral notches dimensionedto receive andinterlock with said legswherebytheresilient stressing ofsaid legs on said insertion-"will cause said legsto-resiliently snapinto said notches to' 'detachably hold said-wire and body together.

References Cited in the file of this patent "UNITED ATES PATENTS 595,286Candel Dec. 14,1897 687,028 Homing Nov. 19, 1901 1,141,090 Winn May 25,1915 1,221,009 Abel Apr. 3, 19 17 .1,5 19,487 .Cooney Dec. 16, 19241,644,475 Herman Oct. 4, '1927 EFOREIG-N ,PATENTS 16,401 ,GreatEBritainof 1-9 12 51215 Germany Mar. 15,1890

